KARACHI, May 7: Shock defeats were in store for sixth seeded Saqib Butt and seventh seed Inamur Rehman, when the Ninth Ranking Snooker Championship got under way at the Karachi Gymkhana on Saturday. Saqib went down to Naseem Paracha 3-4, losing the tie in the final frame, while Inam surrendered to Abid Salim 0-4

The first five seeds moved ahead hardly raising a sweat. Top seed Saleh Mohammad dropped a frame against Mohammad Baqar, second seed Naveen Perwani cruised past Mesam Zaidi 4-0, third seed Mohammad Yousuf also dropped a frame against Saqib Zia, fourth seed Imran Shehzad beat M. Shehzad 4-0 and the same could be said about fifth seed Atiq Latif Bux, who breezed past Shafiq Rafiq 4-0, with splendid breaks of 50, 42 and 75.

Ninth seed Abu Saim also came through a 4-0 winner against Mohammad Nazir, while 10th seed Minhas Malik had to bring out his best before overcoming Farrukh Usman 4-2.

Amit Parwani ended the pretensions of Kamran Razzak 4-0, with breaks of 40 and 38.

Farhan Noor chalking up a break of 56 when it mattered most, overcame Raees Khan 4-2, after the two were locked 2-2 at one stage of the game. Kamran Shaikh came through a 4-2 winner against Shadab Baig, who was leading 2-1 at one stage.

The biggest disappointment came when 13th seed Salman Sheikh leading from the front 2-0 against Arshad Siddiq, suddenly lost his way, losing the next four frames and the match.

Imtiaz Tipu overcame Zahid Junejo 4-0, while Mohammad Asif made heavy weather before he disposed off Waqas Malik 4-2 in a match which lasted for three hours and 15 minutes.

The Pakistan Billiard and Snooker Association (PBSA), announced that the top four ranked players after this tournament will represent Pakistan against India in the Third Indo-Pak Snooker Challenge 2005, which will be played at the Karachi Club early next month.

The top two ranked players will represent Pakistan in the 21st Asian Snooker Championship 2005, which will be played in Pune (India).

Results:

Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) bt Mohammad Baqar (Sindh) 4-1: 65/36, 61/49, 55/29, 13/53, 66/16. Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Mesam Zaidi (Sindh) 4-0: 70/1, 67/44, 65/19, 55/21. Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) bt Saqib Zia (Sindh) 4-1: 65/16, 71/62, 77/19, 21/54, 51/31. Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt M. Shehzad (Punjab) 4-0: 81/20, 54/53, 79/8, 79/9. Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh) bt Shakir Rafiq (Sindh) 4-0: 85/20, 89/30, 60/32, 56/13. Naseem Paracha (Sindh) bt Saqib Butt (Punjab) 4-3: 57/25, 61/23, 22/65, 56/70, 72/58, 9/57, 55/46. Abid Salim (Punjab) bt Inam Ur Rehman (NWFP) 4-0: 88/12, 78/34, 63/9, 65/34. Shehram Changezi (Punjab) bt Shahid Rafiq Punjab) 4-2: 64/14, 68/16, 70/29, 15/56, 40/50, 64/6. Amit Parwani (Sindh) bt Kamran Razzak (Sindh) 4-0: 61/27, 75/29, 52/38, 83/50. Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Raees Khan (Punjab) 4-2: 59/38, 50/18, 1/59, 69/76, 81/1, 58/55. Kamran Shah (Balochistan) bt Shahdab Baig (Sindh) 4-2: 30/82, 78/43, 58/28, 62/39, 39/73, 64/53. Arshad Siddiq (NWFP) bt Salman Sheikh (Sindh) 4-2: 15/51, 47/60, 67/35, 61/34, 43/29, 75/32. Imtiaz Tipu (Punjab) bt Zahid Junejo (Sindh) 82/23, 65/21, 58/6, 59/46. Minhas Malik (Sindh) bt Farrukh Usman (Sindh) 4-2: 36/54, 50/20, 82/21, 41/53, 62/55, 45/36. Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Mohammad Nazir (Punjab) 4-0: 70/31, 63/1, 76/10, 64/20. Mohammad Asif (Sindh) was leading Waqas Malik (Sindh) 2-1; 67/38, 54/17, 34/65.